Cover Story: Worcester's 10 Worst Properties

Thursday

First things first. Not all landlords are evil, greedy, ignorant slum lords. Just like not all tenants are nasty, rude inhabitants from hell who break windows and dump trash all over the yard.

When you look at the history of some the city’s biggest property nightmares, however, it’s easy to see how many landlords and tenants have gained their respective reputations. No heat. Clogged toilets that overflow to the apartments below them. Mattresses and sofas left stained and rain-soaked in yards and on sidewalks. Tenants who ask their landlord for help, then quickly turn them in to city inspectors. Landlords who show up on the first of the month – and not another day until the next time rent is due.

That is some of what I found when I asked the city for a list of its most problem rental properties. I decided to go with the 10 worst because, well, 10 is a manageable number and newspaper space is finite. Those making the list did so based on the total number of violations cited by the city Housing Department over the past three years, 2014- 2016. You’ll count 11 total properties, actually, because two tied for the 10th and final spot.

We’ll start with No. 10, but before we do, some observations worth noting. First, as I stated at the outset, not all landlords are absentee, money-hungry ogres. Some became involved after many of the problems arose between the city and previous owners. Some thought they knew what they were doing, and soon found out they didn’t. I called each owner or manager of the properties on this list – most more than once, often two or three times. Two spoke with me. One issued a terse response, before hanging up. One woman answered the phone listed for the male property manager, heatedly berated me, then hung up. Others said the owner or property manager wasn’t available. Some asked me to call back, then ignored the subsequent call. Others never answered, despite messages left for them. And one is believed to be in Africa, where, according to local tales, she is a real life princess. Let’s just say her Worcester property isn’t exactly a castle.

One thing became clear during the course of putting this story together: the city has not ignored properties that have become eyesores. Citations – in more than one case numbering over 100 – have been issued, court cases pursued and remedies sought. Solving some problems has been easier than others. While some landlords are local, others reside in towns miles away from Worcester, some in different cities altogether. Some have local property managers, but one of the biggest issues, as noted by Amanda Wilson, the city’s director of Housing/Health Inspections, is the frequent lack of hands-on oversight by landlords of their properties. If tenants believe their landlord doesn’t care about their property, she pointed out, why would they?

With that, we give you Worcester’s 10 Worst Properties. We have included incidents involving the police as well as arrests. Those numbers are not necessarily higher than at other properties. Also, note the number of complaints refers to work orders issues for the property.

Owner: Li and Li Liu Baohong Occupancy: 4 units Violations: 69 Complaints: 11 Police Incidents: 50 Arrests: 7 According to Wilson, a number of the violations occurred when the property went vacant. Many of the violations, she said, were outstanding when the Baohongs took over. Among the main issues was non-conforming trash (the use of non-yellow trash bags). One no-no the Baohongs did commit: interior renovations without a permit. A plumbing permit was pulled in the middle of the work, Wilson said. The city signed off on the problems in June 2016. Since then, according to Wilson, there has been one trash issue.

The most recent complaints have included evidence of rodents, dropped ceiling damage, inoperable kitchen stove burners, inoperable kitchen/pantry light fixtures and a heating system in one unit that was not operating as intended. Before that, the city examined issues involving a bathroom sink not secured to a wall, loose outlets, hole in walls throughout the unit, points of entries in the foundation, broken ceiling tiles, water-damaged tiles, damage to a third-floor unit window, rodents, lack of trash receptacles and trash. Jabbar also owns Edgemere Mini Mart on Mill Street. According to Wilson, inspectors have said they have a good working relationship with Jabbar.

The last two complaints on this property were called in by a tenant who eventually canceled them, according to Wilson. In January, a tenant reported rodent infestation as well as issues with an electrical outlet. The inspector called the next morning to schedule an appointment, only to have the occupant reschedule. Twelve days later, Wilson said, the tenant called to say the landlord had corrected the problems. Before that, in another unusual incident, an inspector received a complaint of bedbugs, mice and cockroaches (what Wilson said is known as the “housing trifecta”) on a Friday. When the inspector visited Monday, the tenant had moved out. The inspector had been in the apartment weeks earlier, according to Wilson, and the apartment had been exterminated. Before that, there were trash issues in March last year. In 2015, house board heater covers were found in disrepair, along with a heat detector hanging on the rear porch and trash around the building. There were also mold concerns that year, but no sign of active growth. Lin also owns property on Grafton Street.

The main issues centered on trash, according to Wilson, but inspectors also have addressed lights in the common area. In a second-floor apartment, inspectors discovered broken/ cracked floor tiles and a hole in the bathroom wall, along with mice. In addition, occupants did not have trash receptacles. That all appeared to take place between December last year and March. Before that, Wilson said, inspectors dealt with trash, a front entry door lock that did not work, a missing suspended ceiling tile, hole in a hallway sign, evidence of a water leak in a bedroom and a kitchen cabinet door coming off. “Everything has been corrected,” Wilson said. “The trash seems to be taken care of.”

Santoscordero owns two other properties on Rodney Street (112 and 116) as well as 39 Stanton. Main issues at 74 Rodney have included issues with hallway lights, cross-metering, a loose handrail and trash. Last winter, according to Wilson, the entire chimney had to be rebuilt. Some work was also done without a permit, including a vented room heater and gas hot water tank. Wilson said Santoscordero evicted one tenant who had no gas heat at the time. There was also a tenant/ landlord dispute in February over a chronic trash problem. “I don’t know how hands-on she is,” Wilson said, “but she certainly seems to be corresponding with inspectors.” There have been issues at some of Santoscordero’s other properties as well. At 112 Rodney, there were reports of unregistered vehicles and trash in 2016. In March this year, there was a report of an item on a public way. At 39 Rodney, a citation was issued for sanitation non-conforming. Bulk items were also reported on a sidewalk. Wilson also noted a housing emergency, when the gas company told an occupant there was a gas leak. The tenant, who Wilson said referred to Santoscordero as an “absentee landlord,” said the landlord said she would send someone in two weeks to fix the problem. The caller did not have hot water at the site. That was in October 2015, Wilson said.

Most of the issues, according to Wilson, occurred in 2014. The current owner, Parish, took over in August 2015. The main problems involved soffit trim falling off, leaky piles, broken light fixtures, a hot water tank in disrepair and no heating system on the second floor. According to Wilson, Parish has been a good owner so far. “This time last year,” she said, “we had a complaint for rodents. That was abated.”

According to what inspectors have said, Mayanja is a princess in her home country. She is often in Africa. Her brother, John, used to own the building, and had been looking after the property, but is also not always around. Someone else looks after the property, according to Wilson. Not surprisingly, among the main issues has been the absenteeism of the landlord. Bedbugs also have been a problem, as has trash. “We were looking to put this into receivership a couple years ago,” Wilson said of the process that sees certain properties put under the responsibility of another individual. “Then we fined him. He kind of kept things at bay. There were some issues with police. He had said he was going to empty out the property, redo it and decide what to do with it. He did not do that. He’s been gone for a while now.” The property averages about a complaint a month, Wilson said, but the person overseeing the property now, “seems to be taking care of it.” “Overall,” she said,”this is one that we are certainly keeping our eye on. If it starts to fall, we’ll look at receivership on that one quickly.”

Some landlords on this list may not generate much, if any, sympathy, and while he can’t be held blameless, Preci may well have gotten in over his head on this one (see sidebar). “I think he got taken advantage of,” Wilson said. “He bought the property with the occupants, which was certainly part of the issue. A tax lien was sold by the city and bought by a tax lien company. Once they had a buyer, they transferred it right to the buyer.” The main issues with 12 Lawrence St. were heat, rats and trash. A lot of the trash, Wilson said, came from occupants. Did Preci, as he tells it, get in over his head? “To an extent,” Wilson said, “but I think he could have stopped the bleeding at some point as well. We gave him a lot of warnings that he was heading down the wrong path.” Wilson said the city installed a gas parlor heater at the property. Preci had a plumber install one, she said, but it didn’t work. “Our plumbing inspector could never get hold of him,” Wilson said.

[caption id="attachment_51546" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Albion rooming house at 765 Main Street has been the site of many police calls over the years. Elizabeth Brooks photo[/caption]

This property needs no introduction. Mention the Albion and just about everyone in Worcester – and maybe beyond – has heard of it. Police certainly have. Housing and health inspectors, too, are quite familiar with the Albion, a rooming house whose inhabitants consist of drug users, sex offenders and others. But could its fortunes be changing? O’Rourke took over late last year (see sidebar), and to hear some of the workers and residents tell it, he has cracked down on rules, spruced things up and changed the overall atmosphere. In fact, according to Wilson, close to 50 residents left because they didn’t want to follow the new rules. Property damage, much of it by the occupants, has been among the biggest problems. One resident on an upper floor flushed large soda bottles down a toilet, causing flooding that ruined the ceilings of all the bathrooms beneath it. Another resident destroyed all emergency lighting, including emergency exits. The building also had the “housing trifecta” of bedbugs, cockroaches and mice; general water leaks; and trash. Currently, there are no active court cases involving the Albion.

“Clearly, some extermination issues,” is how Wilson put it when it comes to 776 Main St., which is not far from the Albion. “Bedbug issues to the extent I’ve never seen them,” she said. One tenant opened a drawer in her room, only to have bedbugs pour out. “You actually feel for these conditions,” Wilson said. “People were taking things into their own hands, setting off their own bug bombs, which made the bugs scatter to neighboring apartments.” The former owner, Ralph Brutus, was, “to be honest with you, non-existent, not communicative with us at all,” Wilson said. The bank put the property into receivership under Smith. As it had with some other properties, the city had been working on receivership on its own. Smith, Wilson said, emptied the property out, but tried to help residents find other apartments. He ended up evicting some residents. The property remains in foreclosure, according to Wilson. I reached Smith once, but the next time I called, a woman answered and yelled about why I kept calling, then hung up.

When I reached him by phone, O’Brian said he had nothing to say, and hung up. That might explain why so little has been done to remedy problems at the property. “If anything,” Wilson said, “I’d say the bare minimum is being done.” There were issues earlier this year involving people gaining entry to the building, Wilson said, noting the two basement apartments are empty and have been accessed by outsiders. Among the unsightly discoveries at the building have been needles, used condoms and human feces. The front door lock has also been an issue, Wilson said. On May 12, she said, a large pile of trash was found on the property. The city contacted the person responsible for picking up the trash, Wilson said, only to be told he had not picked up the trash because he had not been paid. When he was contacted, she added, O’Brian said he would take care of it right away. A week later, the trash was gone. Wilson said the city hired a contractor to secure the basement windows from the outside, to protect from intruders.